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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603905">Consider a Friend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christarmewn/pseuds/Christarmewn'>Christarmewn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jirachi's Twin | BONUS STORIES (btyu &amp; others ♥) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword &amp; Shield | Pokemon Sword &amp; Shield Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comforting, Competition, Crying, F/M, Fighting, Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Mild Teasing, Pokemon Battles, argument, becoming friends, shouting, tournament</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:08:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,753</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28603905</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christarmewn/pseuds/Christarmewn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Chairman Leon invites all of the gym leaders in Galar to the Galarian Star Tournament. Among the participants is Bede, of course, accompanied by ex-gym leader Opal. Though he fights hard, the match ends as a loss for him, and thus he bitterly storms out of the stadium after he watches Hop and Gloria receive their prize. As he's pacing around to cool his head, however, he passes the trainer prep lobby and hears two voices arguing angrily with one another—and both sound familiar.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beet | Bede &amp; Yuuri | Gloria, Beet | Bede/Yuuri | Gloria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Jirachi's Twin | BONUS STORIES (btyu &amp; others ♥) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Consider a Friend Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bede attends the first Galarian Star Tournament, only to walk in on Gloria and Hop having an argument.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jirachi's Twin Timeline: (Present → Past)</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jirachi's Twin Main Story</strong></li>
<li>Thanksgiving SP | You Are Precious</li>
<li>Charm and Intellect</li>
<li>
<strong>Consider a Friend</strong> <em>(you are here)</em>
</li>
</ul><p>*Bold is a crucial chapter, italics is current location</p>
<hr/><p>It was the opening day of the Galarian Star Tournament. Bede and the rest of the gym leaders were standing around in the lobby, each one of them holding a crisp envelope with a red, wax seal. Bede had already opened his hours ago, and was only holding onto it because it contained his invitation to the event. He was standing silently on gym leader Opal’s left side, and was glancing around the room to observe the competition.</p><p>He looked around and spotted Nessa, Bea, and Sonia chatting off to the side with each other in a small group, Gordie and Raihan seated next to one another, taking a picture, Kabu, Milo, Allister, and Melony conversing off to the left, and Piers, Hop, and Marnie excitedly gearing themselves up for their oncoming matches.</p><p>
  <em>Who are we still waiting on? Is Champion Gloria late?</em>
</p><p>“There we go!” Opal suddenly announced, drawing Bede’s attention back to her. She held up a small QR card and tapped it against her Rotom phone, “Goodness—no matter what I did, this curious thing just wouldn’t scan my card…” she shook her head, “blasted technology. Bede, could you be a dear and open the file I need?”</p><p>“File? What file?”</p><p>“You know—the square button that pulls up the thing for the tournament?”</p><p>His eyelids lowered in annoyance, “Are you talking about the Star Tournament app?”</p><p>“Yes, <em>that</em> thing,” she reached out her phone to him.</p><p>Shaking his head, he took the phone, and showed Opal the app that the QR code had downloaded onto her device.</p><p>“You just tap on this, and it should bring you to this screen…” he paused, observing a brief popup clarifying if the user was Opal, “Tap ‘yes’…” then the screen finally stopped on the menu.</p><p>Displayed were three buttons: Join Tournament, Host Tournament, and in smaller letters, Sign Out.</p><p>“We’re not starting yet, so for now just turn off your phone…” he tapped the button on the side, causing the screen to turn black, and then handed the device back to Opal, “You can get back to that screen on your own now—right?”</p><p>She nudged him, “I may be old, but I’m not incompetent. I can manage just fine—thank you.”</p><p>Before Bede could respond, the sliding glass door suddenly flew open, filling the room with two furious voices.</p><p>“…I don’t <em>care</em> if you’re the new psychic gym leader, this card has my name on it, so I’m attending whether you like it or not!”</p><p>“Well pardon me ma’am, but I just don’t see how that letter could be real! After all, I received mine <em>straight</em> from the Champion himself!”</p><p>“Did you? Ha! Well now I <em>know</em> you’re full of hot air because if you had even the tiniest <em>fraction</em> of a braincell, you’d know that the champion is a WOMAN, you dolt!”</p><p>Bede stared incredulously at the two bickering people that had just entered the stadium. The first voice that entered belonged to a short girl who couldn’t have been older than seventeen. Her hair was bright pink, and though she acted unprofessionally, she was clearly wearing the official uniform for the poison-type gym.</p><p>The other person was a tall, posh-looking “gentleman”, who Bede believed was trying too hard to appear charming. His hair was long and blond, and he had a white pair of glasses and a black top hat with Poké Balls mysteriously rotating around it. Just like the girl, this man also was wearing an official uniform, though his was for the psychic-type gym.</p><p> Bede raised an eyebrow as he stared at the two spectacles. He recognized them both from some obscure event, but couldn’t seem to recall exactly where. Still, he shrugged, and approached the two trainers with practiced politeness despite how infuriating their appearances already were.</p><p>“Hello, can I help you two? Is there a reason you both burst in here with such fiery attitudes?”</p><p>The two stopped arguing for a moment to stare at Bede, and when they realized who he was, their jaws simultaneously dropped in fury.</p><p>“It’s <em>you!</em>” the girl shouted, jeering her finger at him. Then she stuttered, realizing she was making a scene, and withdrew her hand to smile impishly at him, “I-I mean, nice to meet you again Bede! I had no idea you were also invited to the tournament…”</p><p>“Well naturally I am… I’m a gym leader after all.”</p><p>“O-of course!” the tall man nodded, smiling a bit too wide for comfort, “You’re. The. Gym. Leader. Hahaha.”</p><p>Bede glanced warily at the two of them, still unsure where he’d met them before.</p><p>“Anyway,” he went on, ignoring their odd greetings, “If you’ve got your tickets, go ahead and scan them. As soon as the champion arrives, I believe the tournament will begin.”</p><p>“Oh, of course!” the girl beamed, stopping Bede before he could turn away again, “But before you go—do you recognize us?”</p><p>They grinned expectantly at him, making Bede feel rather cornered.</p><p>“Um… I believe we’ve met, but…” he shrugged, “I don’t remember.”</p><p>As if he’d just kicked them both in the gut, both of the gym leaders keeled over dramatically in pain.</p><p>“The nerve—!” the man wheezed sharply, his eyes suddenly flaring with anger.</p><p>“Were we really so trivial to you that you forgot our names!?”</p><p>“Well…” Bede wasn’t sure how to respond.</p><p>“Ugh—fine then!” the girl straightened up fiercely, balling her fists in determined anger, “My name’s Klara, Galar’s poison-type gym leader. You better not forget this time!”</p><p>“And my name is Avery, Galar’s psychic gym leader. I believe we met in the Gym Leader Apprenticeship Program.”</p><p>Bede stared thoughtfully at the ceiling for a moment, suddenly recalling what Avery was referring to.</p><p>“Oh yeah…” he cringed, “That was a long time ago.”</p><p>Before starting his training with Opal, Bede was forced to sit through a string of orientation classes for aspiring gym leaders. They called it GAP (short for Gym Leader Apprenticeship Program), and it was one of the most mundane schooling periods he could remember. At the end of the year, they held auditions between all of the classes, and the top three graduates would become gym leaders—though only for the minor division. (To actually take over a gym, they had to win a certain placing in the annual Galar placement league, and that meant fighting the major division gym leaders—a task Bede barely managed to triumph in.)</p><p>The point was, Bede remembered fighting both trainers in the auditions last winter, and neither one of them had gotten even close to beating him.</p><p>The recollection was so funny, Bede nearly laughed.</p><p>“Oi—don’t go talkin’ down to us again!” Klara yelled, noticing him stifle a snicker, “You might’ve beaten me back then, but I’ll have you know I passed the auditions this year!”</p><p>“Yeah, and in the end <em>I</em> was the winner of those auditions,” Avery added, giving a smug side glance to Klara as he gloated.</p><p>“Shut-up! It’s only ‘cuz you have the type advantage, you twit!”</p><p>“I get it, I get it.” Bede rolled his eyes, “Great job managing to make it in this year then. Good luck securing a gym next month in the placing tournament.”</p><p>They both blinked, surprised he was both congratulating <em>and</em> wishing them luck—though begrudgingly.</p><p>“Oh. Uh, thanks.” Avery rubbed his neck awkwardly, “Uh—just because you’re being nice doesn’t mean I’m holding back in the Star Tournament today, just so you know!”</p><p>“Again, I get it…” he sighed, stepping away from them, “Such noisy people…”</p><p>Shortly after the arrival of Klara and Avery, ex-champion Mustard and gym leader Peony arrived with letters as well, both raring to fight. The only person absent at this point, was Galar’s new champion.</p><p>
  <em>She’s nearly an hour late—where on earth is she?</em>
</p><p>“Attention gym leaders!”</p><p>Leon had just entered the room and was standing on the second story, waving down at everyone in the lobby.</p><p>“I’m gonna need everyone here to move onto the field, please. I have an announcement to make!”</p><p>“What? But Gloria isn’t here yet!” Hop shouted back, “We can’t possibly start things if she’s not here…”</p><p>“Oh, don’t worry brother—she’s on her way. I just got a call from her letting me know she needs about ten more minutes. I’ll be waiting for her in the lobby so I can give her directions. In the meantime, please exit onto the field so we can get started.”</p><p>Bede glanced at Opal, a half-concerned look in his eyes, “What’s taking her so long, anyway? Knowing her, I thought she’d be the first person here…”</p><p>Opal shrugged, “Beats me. I’d honestly say the same, but it seems she’s yet to come.”</p><p>Upon Leon’s request, the gym leaders began filing out onto the field in an orderly fashion. As soon as they were in view, fans began cheering for them. Though the stadium was still filling up, many onlookers were ecstatic to see the familiar faces as they spread across the grassy terrain.</p><p>“Oh my gosh—it’s Raihan!” several girls screeched, and he waved in the general direction of the voices.</p><p>“Ahhh—Gordie’s there! Gordie’s there! He’s so cool!”</p><p>Bede shook his head, smirking as random fans began waving to their favorite gym leaders.</p><p>Then finally, reaching the end of the hall, Bede stepped into the bright light of the stadium, Opal walking next to him about a yard away.</p><p>Just as he appeared, and unholy choir of high-pitched screams erupted from a particular corner of the stadium. The sound was so alarmingly loud, for a moment he worried someone was getting attacked, but as he jolted his head to the sound, he realized it was something much worse.</p><p>“IT’S BEDE!!!”</p><p>His jaw dropped unintentionally. A group of maybe thirty girls, all dressed in their school uniforms, were waving banners and wearing hats that sported <em>his</em> emblem. It was so shocking, he almost forgot to keep walking. Even as he turned his head sheepishly away, however, their cries didn’t stop. He glanced again, managed a brief, very fake smile, and held up his left hand.</p><p>They gave one last whoop before finally falling silent—his acknowledgement sufficing their hungry gazes.</p><p>Embarrassed, he stared angrily at his shoes and rubbed his forehead, <em>Since when did I have a fan club? I’m still new—if anyone deserves that sort of attention, it would be Raihan or Leon. Not </em>me.</p><p>There was a low whistle from Bede’s left, and he looked up to see Raihan grinning sinisterly at him.</p><p>“Somebody’s gotten popular, eh?” he teased, “I reckon you’ve got a whole girl’s school over there cheerin’ for ya!”</p><p>Despite Bede’s best efforts, his face turned bright red all over again.</p><p>“Sh-shut-up!” he sputtered.</p><p>Raihan just laughed, stepping away to resume his conversation with Gordie. From the corner of his eye, Bede could feel Opal’s eyes resting on him, and he glanced briefly at her.</p><p>“What is it?” he mumbled.</p><p>She chuckled once, shaking her head, “Oh nothing. I just remembered how nice it must be to be young and handsome.”</p><p><em>Not you too!</em> he grimaced, swallowing the insults that threatened to push out of his lungs.</p><p>The gym leaders proceeded to wait for another fifteen minutes or so. Then, at five o’clock, Gloria finally appeared at the opposite end of the long hallway. She was running as fast as she could, one hand propped on top of her head to keep her hat from being whisked away.</p><p>When she reached the end of the hall, Hop was the first person to greet her, along with Klara and Avery.</p><p>“S-sorry I’m late…” she gulped, “I was in the Crown Tundra when I read Leon’s letter, and I—”</p><p>“It’s fine, it’s fine! What matters is that you’re here!” Hop grinned, patting her once on the back, “Now let’s go join the others—Leon’s about to make his big announcement!”</p><p>As she joined Hop’s side on the field, Bede glanced at Gloria’s appearance. It had been a while since he’d seen her, after all. Occasionally they met by coincidence on the Isle of Armor, but for the most part, he hadn’t seen her since the championship last fall (and a brief encounter during last year’s Christmas party). By now, it was nearly spring—the start of Galar’s next Pokémon league, and to celebrate it, Leon was hosting something called the Galarian Star Tournament.</p><p>Bede’s eyes caught sight of Gloria’s clothes, noticing her usual pink dress and dark green beret. The only difference today, was she had put on a fluffy coat, identical to gym leader Klara’s, and had a pair of faux-fur boots on as well to keep her feet warm. By the looks of it, her shoes were still damp from melted snow.</p><p><em>Did she really fly all the way from the Crown Tundra today?</em> he marveled, <em>That’s one fast Corviknight… she’s lucky to be here at </em>all.</p><p>“All right everyone! Sorry to have kept you waiting!”</p><p>Bede spun away from Gloria and turned his attention to Chairman Leon.</p><p>“First things first—I want to say a quick thank-you to all of you for coming running when I called!” he shouted, gradually crossing the field to meet all of the gym leaders face-to-face, “I really wanted to explain this in person, because I wanted to be sure I could get across to you how great this idea is!”</p><p>Raihan laughed once, interrupting Leon’s speech with a quick remark.</p><p>“Phew, would you take a look at this guy?” he jabbed his thumb playfully in the direction of the chairman, “Getting all serious in your old age are you? What is this grand idea anyway, Leon?”</p><p>Leon smirked at the statement, taking the opportunity to also glare at him briefly so he wouldn’t interrupt him again.</p><p>“Hah! Don’t you start in on me, Raihan—I’m really trying here!” then he turned away to face the rest of the gym leaders with his full attention.</p><p>As soon as he was facing the group, he launched into a spiel about his time as a trainer—facing rivals and becoming the chairman. Bede wasn’t paying attention to some parts of it, but when Leon finally announced the Galarian Star Tournament was open, he was listening intently.</p><p>“The Galarian Star what!?” Marnie repeated, surprised at the announcement.</p><p>Piers rolled his eyes, making some sort of inaudible comment out of earshot, while Bede simply rested his hand under his chin.</p><p><em>The Galarian Star Tournament—just how it was stated in the letter,</em> he recalled,<em> Is he finally going to tell us what this is all about?</em></p><p>“The Galarian Star Tournament will be an elimination tournament in Multi Battle format,” Leon went on, “I want all of you here to pair up with the strongest partner you can think of, then pool your power and work together to try to win your way through the tourney!”</p><p>Bede blinked incredulously as the Chairman continued to elaborate.</p><p><em>Teaming up!?</em> he gawked at the other gym leaders, <em>But they—we—why do I have to team up with </em>them!? <em>These are my rivals, not my partners!</em></p><p>But it was too late to argue now.</p><p>When Leon was finished, he ushered everyone back into the lobby. When everyone was inside, he clasped his hands together once, and began speaking once again.</p><p>“Alright—everyone understand? It’s simple enough, right?”</p><p>“We’re just picking a partner. How hard can that be?” Gordie shrugged, glancing around the room.</p><p>“Great! Then all of you go ahead and open the ‘Star Tournament’ app. From there, tap ‘Join Tournament’, and type in the password: STTOUREY01. My name should pop up as the moderator.”</p><p>Everyone did as instructed, and instantly a list of everyone’s pictures and names appeared on their menu screens. Bede scrolled through the list, identifying every gym leader with the addition of Hop, Gloria, and interestingly enough—the two celebrities, Sordward and Shielbert.</p><p>“Now, just go around the room and pick a partner! When you decide on someone, tap their picture, and a boxed ‘✓’ and ‘x’ should appear on their screen—Raihan stop sending me invites I’m in the middle of the demonstration.”</p><p>While he snickered in the back, Leon gave one last encouraging remark for the participants before allowing everyone to mingle and choose their partners. As soon as Leon gave his word, Bede glanced around the room at the gym leaders and noticed Hop eagerly approach Gloria first.</p><p>“Gloria, let’s be partners! It’s always so cool fighting alongside you—it’ll be just like old times!”</p><p>Gloria laughed, “<em>Old</em> times? Are you forgetting our gym challenge was only a few months ago?”</p><p>He just shrugged, a ridiculous grin on his face.</p><p>“Anyways,” she giggled, “I’ll probably be partners with you since it’s the first tournament, but give me a minute to speak to everyone first—okay?”</p><p>He nodded, stepping aside so she could observe the rest of the people in the room, and Bede immediately pulled his eyes back to his phone. Making awkward eye contact would be the <em>last</em> thing he’d want with Gloria, knowing her personality.</p><p>As he was scrolling through the names however, an invite popped up on his screen—instantly obscuring all the other gym leaders’ profiles from view.</p><p>“Wha—” he raised an eyebrow.</p><p>Staring back at him with obnoxiously expectant eyes, was Gloria’s profile picture, and the “✓” and “x” buttons Leon mentioned earlier. He blinked at it, unsure how to respond, and finally willed himself to press the “x” button.</p><p>
  <em>Why the heck would she send me an invite?</em>
</p><p>He glanced over the edge of his phone, and was instantly met with Gloria’s curious gaze from across the room.</p><p><em>What do you want?</em> he wondered cynically.</p><p>There was another ding, and when he looked down again, Gloria’s invite had popped up a second time.</p><p>“What the he—why are you sending me another stupid—!?” he tapped on the “x” again, but it popped up a third time, “Champion!” he shouted.</p><p>She was cackling.</p><p>“Shut-up—why do you keep sending me invites!?”</p><p>Wiping away tears, she pressed his profile a fourth time, “Sorry, it’s just—you’re so serious all the time! I thought I could make you laugh.”</p><p>He glared firmly at her, “Laugh? Hmph. The only thing funny here is your desperation.”</p><p>“Owwwch!” she moaned, clutching the area around her heart, “You’re really not one for jokes eh?”</p><p>He turned his head annoyedly off to the side, “I couldn’t accept it if I wanted to, Miss Champion. Not after you promised Hop you’d be his partner.”</p><p>Gloria glanced at Hop, who was watching quietly from the side of the room, and he jolted when they both acknowledged him staring at them.</p><p>“That’s true,” she laughed nervously, “But then who’d want to partner up with—”</p><p>Bede practically shoved his phone into her face, its screen displaying a picture of Opal’s profile and the words “Request Accepted!”. Her grin faltered instantly, and she dragged herself sheepishly back to the other side of the room.</p><p>
  <em>The heck was that all about?</em>
</p><p>Then Leon returned, announcing the start of the Galarian Star Tournament, and everyone’s screens changed to display the first round’s bracket.</p>
<hr/><p>Around three hours later, the tournament came to a close. Bede and Opal were clapping from the sidelines, having lost in the second round to Raihan and Leon. It had been an excellent tournament—even though Bede had technically lost. The Champion and Hop worked hard and well together, managing to fight until the bitter end against Raihan and Leon (though anyone could tell Gloria was carrying their team).</p><p>The two were standing next to one another on a special podium, and Leon had strode forward to congratulate them.</p><p>“You two were brilliant out there—especially you, lil’ bro!” Leon grinned and gave Hop a fist bump.</p><p>Gloria bowed slightly, “Naturally! Did you think my win against you was a fluke, Leon? It’s not every day when a cupcake beats a freaking sword—amirite?”</p><p>She was referring to her Alcremie which somehow defeated Leon’s Aegislash within the first five minutes of their fight.</p><p>Leon shook his head, “You’ve got a point there, Gloria. I don’t think I’ll be able to live that down…”</p><p>Then, tucked under his right arm, he handed Gloria and Hop a set of matching, black uniforms with gold trim.</p><p>“Here’s your prize, you two—you’ve earned it!”</p><p>Bede watched their faces change as a look of awe filled their eyes with amazement.</p><p>“Woah—these are gym uniforms! But to what gym?” Hop asked excitedly.</p><p>“They’re not for any gyms, silly!” Leon laughed, shaking his head, “They’re Sport Uniforms—<em>the</em> Sport Uniforms of Galar. I had them specially made as prizes for the tournament, so there are only two of them in the entire region! And they’re complete with every single sponsor of ours, of course.”</p><p>Gloria laughed, glancing at Leon’s cape when he mentioned the atrocious amount of sponsors.</p><p>“Thank you so much, Leon! I’ll wear it to the next tournament.”</p><p>Leon grinned, giving one last hurrah for the winners, and the stadium filled with music from the Maximizers.</p><p>Bede, finally deciding it was appropriate to exit, turned to step out into the nearby hall, but before he could even take a step, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. The touch sent chills up his spine, and as he spun, he locked eyes with a very patient Opal.</p><p>“And where do you think <em>you’re</em> going? There’s still a song to go—we’re not excused until it’s over. How do you think people will view you if they catch you sneaking off early, hm?”</p><p>He sighed impatiently, crossing his arms as he forced himself to stick around, “I reckon their opinions of me wouldn’t change much, if I’m honest—but for your satisfaction, I will stay.”</p><p>Figuring that was the best response Opal could get out of him, she fell silent, allowing Bede to brood indignantly to himself as he stood in place. His eyes wandered the stadium, tired of its noise and energy, until they landed on the forms of Gloria and Hop. They were across the stadium, holding their uniforms in hand, but walking slightly out-of-step with one another. He raised his head a little out of curiosity, and as he watched closely, he noticed something.</p><p>It could’ve been the distance, but Bede felt like for a pair of tournament winners, the two trainers were acting a little too modest with each other. They looked stiff and forced—as if they weren’t willing to stand next to one another. Something wasn’t right.</p><p>His throat burned as he wondered more and more about them. It didn’t make sense. Gloria wasn’t one to just idly wave when she won something big, and neither was Hop. They weren’t cheerful enough.</p><p>It was annoying.</p><p><em>How could they be so used to winning, that it doesn’t surprise them anymore?</em> he fumed, <em>How conceited </em>is <em>she!? And to think she joked about being my partner.</em></p><p>Bede turned away angrily, dismissing Opal with a quick: “Bathroom.” as he exited into the adjacent hall. The loud noise of the stadium faded away instantly, allowing his thoughts to voice more clearly through his head.</p><p>“I can’t believe it!” he shouted angrily to himself, “That stupid champion—she just ruins everything! If it were Leon, I wouldn’t have had any trouble—” he cut himself off, remembering suddenly how he’d been banned from the tournament in the first place. It was a miracle that he’d even gotten invited to today’s match.</p><p>Unable to find a comeback for himself, he just cursed angrily under his breath as he stomped across Wyndon’s long halls. Then, before he’d known it, Bede somehow stormed all the way to the other side of the stadium.</p><p><em>What am I doing over here?</em> he blinked, glancing confusedly around the hallway, <em>I was looking for the locker room so I could cool off, but—</em></p><p>“You think I did that on <em>purpose!?</em>”</p><p>Bede stopped walking.</p><p>There were voices coming from his right side—the trainer prep lobby. Though they were faint since the door was closed, he had undoubtedly just heard someone shouting.</p><p><em>Well, I was looking for the locker room anyway, so I guess I’ll just…</em> he excused, and quietly creaked open the door.</p><p>“It’s not that you did it on purpose—” the other voice defended, “I said it was unintentional, okay?” they let out a long sigh.</p><p><em>That’s Hop’s voice.</em> he realized, <em>Then if that’s Hop, the other person must be—</em></p><p>“Look—I’m sorry! I don’t know what you want me to say here—you’ve been acting so weird lately!” Gloria argued.</p><p>The sound of her anger pierced Bede with guilt. He had heard her like that only once before, and it was an unpleasant experience.</p><p>
  <em>What’re they fighting about?</em>
</p><p>“What do you—<em>me!?</em> <em>You’re</em> the one who started leaving me behind!” Hop shouted back.</p><p>Somehow, the fury in Hop’s voice was even more terrifying.</p><p>He didn’t think someone so lackadaisical and cheerful could ever yell with the amount of malice he had just produced. There was a flaming grit that seemed to scrape through his words as he shouted back at her—a voice of furious, genuine hurt.</p><p>“There I was—waiting for something, ANYTHING from you at the lab! I just wanted your input, and you blew me off! You don’t answer my texts anymore, and that wouldn’t’ve bothered me so much if I didn’t know you were reading them, but you are!”</p><p>“Oh so that’s what this tantrum’s about—me not returning your texts!? What are you—some overly attached, helicopter boyfriend!?”</p><p>Bede cringed, shrinking back a bit from the insult.</p><p>
  <em>That escalated quickly…</em>
</p><p>“What!? That’s complete hogwash! I don’t text you that often, you know! It was like once a month, just me checking in on you so we could stay in touch! Is that too much to ask!? Look—when I invite you to things and offer to hang out, the least you can say is that you’re <em>busy</em>—you don’t have to ghost me!”</p><p>“I’m not ghosting you—and I <em>am</em> busy! I <em>told</em> you! This job is extremely taxing for me—I’m barely seventeen, what do <em>I</em> know about being a champion!? I still live with my mom!”</p><p>“There you go again—making excuses…”</p><p>“No—I really don’t mean to hurt you, I—” she sniffed.</p><p>“There’s more to all this than <em>that,</em> anyway.”</p><p>She paused, “What else could I have done…?”</p><p>“You think I would just let you waltz away with the champion title?”</p><p>There was a cold pause.</p><p>“It really hurt, you know? And it’s only gotten worse. Sure—I’ve got the job of my dreams right now. It’s everything I could’ve hoped for, and more. But it doesn’t change what <em>you</em> are now.”</p><p>“What do you—”</p><p>“Gloria it’s so frustrating—beating me at everything I wish to be good at. Not just battles, but catching Pokémon and naming them off the top of your head like it’s nothing. Knowing about abilities and types and obscure legendaries—all the stuff I aim to study, and here you stand knowing <em>everything about it.</em> And then you go and change your personality, to top it off! All bubbly and charming, like the world just <em>belongs to you</em> now that you’re standing on top of it! How do you think that feels to be me!?”</p><p>He was met with silence.</p><p>It was so quiet, Bede could hear the sound of his own heartrate beating inside of his head. He almost worried they could hear it from the room.</p><p>“I can’t look at you anymore, mate,” Hop finally managed, a choke in his voice as he started to turn away, “It hurt enough when you tried winning the league for me as if I’m uncapable—but now that you’re standing here with everything I ever wanted…” he punched a tear away from his face as he started towards the locker room door, “I hate you so much.”</p><p>Bede almost panicked when Hop suddenly appeared in his view, but luckily Hop’s head was focused on the floor. Then, after flinging the locker room door open, Hop slammed himself inside, and the room once again fell into a deep silence.</p><p>Bede nearly panicked when Hop suddenly appeared in his view, but luckily Hop’s head was focused on the floor. Then, after flinging the locker room door open, Hop slammed himself inside, and the room once again fell into a deep silence.</p><p>On the other side of the wall, quiet sobbing filled the prep lobby. It was horrible to listen to—the kind of self-loathing, mournful sob that one makes when they regret everything in the world.</p><p>At some point, Bede had probably made that sound before too.</p><p>Before he could peek into the lobby to check on her however, he heard the door to the field open, and the voices of several excited gym leaders leaked into the room. He expected them to stop and check on Gloria—expected Nessa to suddenly say: “Woah, woah—are you okay, girl? What happened?” but all she said was: “Hey Champ! Nice game out there—you really did a number on Milo and I!”</p><p>And to his surprise, she responded with a quaint, unwavering, “Thanks! I’m sorry if it was over too quickly.”</p><p>
  <em>What? After going through all that tongue-lashing, she just—responded normally?</em>
</p><p>Unable to refrain from peeking anymore, Bede finally turned left through the open doorway, and entered the prep lobby. Gloria was sitting delicately on a bench, her hands interlaced, and plastic smile across her cheeks.</p><p>If he hadn’t have just heard her arguing with Hop, he never would’ve known she was silently suffering.</p><p>Gloria noticed Bede staring at her, and gave him a warm smile, “Hey Bede! Too bad I never got to fight you out there—you lost too quickly!”</p><p>He flinched, “Well… we were on opposite ends of the bracket, so it was only natural I’d lose…”</p><p>There was a short pause as gym leaders came and left the prep lobby. Then suddenly, it was just the two of them.</p><p><em>Shoot—I came in here without thinking… what do I do now?</em> he bit his lip, not wanting to intrude, but was also scarred by the memory of Gloria’s quiet sobbing.</p><p>Then Gloria stood up.</p><p>“I’m going to shower and change into some clean clothes,” she said, smiling serenely at him, “I worked up a sweat out there—I get too enthusiastic sometimes…”</p><p>“I noticed…” Bede managed.</p><p>She nodded curtly to him, and turned to enter the women’s restroom.</p><p>“Um… Champion,” Bede suddenly spoke.</p><p>She glanced at him over her shoulder, “Yes?”</p><p>There was another silence.</p><p>Bede opened his mouth, but as he stared into her eyes, he couldn’t find the words to speak. He felt too guilty—too hypocritical to bother himself with her dilemma. After all, who was he to comfort her, when he too often dismissed her himself? He, who when she so keenly offered to partner up with him, turned her down three, four, five separate times and told her to “Shut-up” when she kept bothering him.</p><p>He realized he had no right to comfort her now.</p><p>Bede swallowed his words, and shook his head.</p><p>“Nevermind. It’s not important, anyway.”</p><p>“Ah. I see.”</p><p>He couldn’t bear to look at her. He figured already what her expression looked like—the silent look of hope flickering away from her magenta eyes, a creeping bitterness likely burning in her throat. She had probably reasoned with herself by now: “How could he know about my argument with Hop, anyway? He couldn’t have heard anything. And if he did, of course he wouldn’t talk to me about it. That’s completely against his personality.”</p><p>She turned her back to him, gave a short nod, and then shut herself away in the women’s locker room, where she would likely continue to cry.</p>
<hr/><p>A few hours later, Bede was standing silently outside of the gym, waiting for his taxi to show up. Though he was attempting to distract himself with his phone, it was becoming clear to him that his efforts were in vain.</p><p>
  <em>“Ah. I see.”</em>
</p><p>Those three words were rippling through his head over and over again like a spinning penny, revealing somehow everything yet nothing about her at the same time. She had whispered those words as a mere reaction—intending only to respond, regardless if her words themselves were meaningless.</p><p>Yet they rung over and over in his head like haunted church bells.</p><p>His thumb hovered over his phone screen. He was no longer staring at it, but was instead focused on a single, invisible point in space. He let his consciousness drift away for a moment, ignoring the chilly breeze as it ruffled his curls.</p><p>Eventually he caught himself staring at nothing, and managed to let out a disgruntled sigh.</p><p><em>Was it really right for me to just leave her like that?</em> he wondered silently. Then he shook his head, <em>Ugh—I need to forget about that. It wasn’t any of my business after all… butting in now would only be rude.</em></p><p>Then suddenly the glass doors opened to the stadium, snatching Bede’s attention instantly.</p><p>It was Gloria of all people.</p><p>For a moment, she just stood in the doorway, apparently not noticing Bede who was obscured by the shadows on the far left of the entrance. Hoping to remain unseen, Bede turned off his phone, and carefully lowered his hand to slide it into his pocket.</p><p><em>Please keep walking…</em> he hoped.</p><p>From the distance, he could tell her nose and cheeks were still flushed from crying, and her occasional sniffle implied she still had more tears left in her. Guilt twinged harder in his gut than earlier, but his reeling desire to remain uninvolved as the introvert he was, kept him from attempting any sort of conversation.</p><p>His hand slipped.</p><p>There was a dull clatter, and his cheeks tightened in an agonized wince as his Rotom woke up and instantly started yelling at him.</p><p>“Well, well, well! Dropped me, ‘ave you!? Ugh you’re so infuriating! First you opt to keep me on ‘sleep’ mode rather than let me talk to you, and then you drop me on the concrete like I’m some sort of metal rubb—”</p><p>Horrified, Bede snatched his phone out of the air and slapped his hand over its mouth.</p><p>“Shut-up!” he hissed, managing to wrangle it back to its sleep mode.</p><p>Then, when it was turned off, he slowly turned to face Gloria—a tight cringe spread fully across his face.</p><p>“Uh…” he began lamely, “That, uh…”</p><p>Gloria blinked blankly at him for a moment, and then stiffened up when she realized her face was still rosy and tear-stained. She placed both hands on her cheeks in sudden embarrassment.</p><p>“O-oh! Um—sorry for staring. I sorta lost myself for a minute there…”</p><p>Bede shook his head, trying hard to ignore the ragged wavering in her voice, “No—I should be the one apologizing…”</p><p>“F-for… what?”</p><p>He stiffened, realizing she had no idea how much he knew about her exchange with Hop.</p><p>“N… nevermind…”</p><p>She sighed bitterly, rubbing her arm as she stared down at her feet, “Nevermind again? For someone who keeps running into me today, you sure don’t have much to say.”</p><p>The comment was unnecessarily harsh coming from her, but he chose to let it slide.</p><p>“What do you expect me to say then?” he responded simply.</p><p>“Just tell me what you were going to say.”</p><p>
  <em>No. I’m good, thanks.</em>
</p><p>He stiffened, trying to come up with something less rude than his normal response.</p><p>“Well… I say ‘nevermind’ because ninety percent of the time, my thoughts aren’t exactly well-formed, so if I choose to speak it would probably come out offensive in some way. That seems to be my knee-jerk response to people conversing with me, nowadays…”</p><p>“Ah… so you were restraining yourself from insulting me?”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow at her, “Not necessarily, but…”</p><p>Bede expected her to laugh. Often times she’d do that—take a sentence of his, break it down in simpler terms and remove all context to make it seem offensive in some way, but then she’d always laugh it off as a funny joke. Of course though, she wasn’t in the mood for laughing. He knew that much…</p><p>Bede cleared his throat, “I ought to be leaving soon. I called a taxi a bit ago, it should be here in a minute or two. Are you flying back to Wedgehurst?”</p><p>Gloria simply nodded.</p><p>“Okay then…”</p><p>There was an awkward pause.</p><p>Bede almost pulled his phone back out to pretend like he was preoccupied, but Gloria stopped him before he could.</p><p>“You didn’t ask.”</p><p>He blinked, looking up to see her eyes bearing into him like steel blades.</p><p>“Ask… what?”</p><p>“You’re perceptive enough,” Gloria mused, “I figured you’d call me an idiot for not flying to Wedgehurst earlier with Hop.”</p><p>Bede’s eyes widened, surprised that she’d picked up on that.</p><p>“That? Oh… it didn’t occur to me.”</p><p>He reached for his phone again, but Gloria spoke a second time.</p><p>“And don’t think I didn’t notice how you sauntered into the lobby from the hall entrance and not the field one.”</p><p>Slowly, Bede lifted his head back up to see Gloria’s eyes had somehow changed from blades to the barrels of loaded guns. It sent a shuddering chill up his spine that almost made him gag.</p><p>
  <em>Crap.</em>
</p><p>“What were you doing in that hall, Bede? You had no business being on the clear opposite side of the stadium.”</p><p>“I… well…” he glanced left and right, and began impatiently tapping his foot, “It was honestly a coincidence—I just sort of went on a walk to avoid the loud cheering—”</p><p>“Yet you oh-so-conveniently stopped in the prep lobby as well?”</p><p>Bede winced, suddenly realizing he was cornered on the very topic of interest he was actively trying to avoid. As his mind spun to search for appropriate responses, he could do nothing but stall.</p><p>“I… you see—well…”</p><p>Then his mind finally rested on his only line of defense: furious denial.</p><p>“Bede… did you by chance… hear anyth—”</p><p>“Look—it’s none of your business!” he dismissed quickly, immediately shooting down her attempts to pry him open, “I’m very tired—it’s late, and I genuinely don’t know what I was doing down there. I was just spacing out and being dumb, I suppose, so lay off.”</p><p>Her mouth closed firmly as soon as he’d finished.</p><p>“A-ah… my bad.” her eyes returned to that soulless shade of hopelessness they’d had before, “I don’t know what’s come over me today… sorry.”</p><p><em>Thank goodness…</em> he sighed, glad he’d dodged a bullet, <em>but also… I hope that wasn’t too harsh…</em></p><p>“Anyway—I’m going to the Corviknight stop…” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, “It appears my flight is here.”</p><p>Gloria looked up, noticing the giant metallic bird descending from the sky above.</p><p>“Oh… seems like it.”</p><p>They both began descending down the steps of the stadium in bitter silence. It was horribly awkward, knowing the trouble she had just gone through in the lobby, but there was nothing he could say to her that wouldn’t expose him for eavesdropping.</p><p>When he reached the man, he showed him his Corviknight pass, and nodded curtly to Gloria.</p><p>“H-have a safe flight, I guess…” she mumbled, “Sorry about… interrogating you like that. I don’t know why I was acting like that…”</p><p>He shrugged, “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal…” then stopped halfway up the steps to the taxi cabin. He let out a long painful sigh, willed himself to glance over his shoulder, and responded carefully: “I… I hope tomorrow goes better for you.”</p><p>Her eyes widened, and for a moment he worried she would stop him from leaving, but she didn’t.</p><p>“It’s just… well… frowns like that don’t suit you well, you know?” he turned back away from her, embarrassed at his lame attempt to comfort her.</p><p>
  <em>At least I tried…</em>
</p><p>But as he took his seat, he glanced one last time at Gloria, and was surprised to find her smiling.</p><p>“Yeah,” she managed weakly, and then stepped back a bit to let the Corviknight spread its wings.</p><p>Then, as the taxi ascended up into the sky, he could’ve sworn he’d seen her mouth the word: “Thanks”, but of course—with the distance he was away, it must’ve only been his imagination.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Consider a Friend Pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bede and Gloria's second Star Tournament match, where they fight side-by-side.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jirachi's Twin Timeline: (Present → Past)</p><ul>
<li><strong>Jirachi's Twin Main Story</strong></li>
<li>Thanksgiving SP | You Are Precious</li>
<li>Charm and Intellect</li>
<li>
<strong>Consider a Friend</strong> <em>(you are here)</em>
</li>
</ul><p>*Bold is a crucial chapter, italics is current location</p><hr/><p>A few months passed since the first Galarian Star Tournament was announced. Within that span of time, Bede had only run into Gloria once—simply passing her by with a quaint wave while visiting Hammerlocke. Though they rarely ran into each other, Bede reckoned from that single time he’d seen her, she was doing much better than before. She even seemed enthusiastic as she waved.</p><p><em>Perhaps those two have already made up,</em> Bede figured, <em>I suppose when you’re </em>that<em> close to someone, forgiving is a lot easier.</em></p><p>Then, before Bede knew it, March was upon him. Spring sprung up through the blossoms of the trees, marking the start of the next Pokémon league. He attended the opening ceremony, spotting the champion as she welcomed the gym challengers, and announced the date of yet another Galarian Star Tournament, reserved for early May of that year.</p><p>It wasn’t until that tournament when he finally got the chance to speak to her again.</p><p>He and Opal arrived five minutes early so they could check in properly and choose their partners.</p><p>“Are we doubling up a second time, Bede dear?” she asked.</p><p>Bede considered it for a moment, “Normally I’d agree, but I’m curious about fighting with the other participants as well…”</p><p>Opal nodded understandingly, “I suppose that’s reasonable. I should’ve known one day you’d grow up and leave me behind…” she sighed melodramatically before giving Bede a mischievous smirk.</p><p>“What am I—your son…?” he grunted.</p><p>Opal just smiled and stepped into the prep lobby to wait for the other gym leaders to arrive. Bede, though meaning to enter the lobby with Opal, had a sudden phone call interrupt him from entering. Thus, for the next few minutes, Bede watched as gym leaders signed in and turned right into the adjourning lobby.</p><p>“Look—” Bede hissed into the phone, “I don’t care what color the decorations are this year, just use the same ones we used last year. I don’t see how this couldn’t have waited until <em>after</em> the tournament, but whatever…”</p><p>Defensive complaining met him as he dismissed their request, but Bede didn’t care.</p><p>“Just do what I suggested, alright? Save yourself the frustration and recycle old props if you have to. I’m hanging up now.”</p><p>Bede rubbed his eyes as he returned his phone to his pocket, and to his surprise, Gloria was standing across the room signing into the front desk. He paused for a moment, wondering what he should say to her, and then stepped across the room to finally greet her.</p><p>“Good afternoon, Champion,” Bede acknowledged, nodding to her.</p><p>When her pass had been scanned at the front desk, she turned to face Bede, surprised he’d bothered to approach her.</p><p>“Oh. Good afternoon to you to,” she smiled briefly, “I didn’t think you’d be the first to approach me.”</p><p>Bede grimaced at her remark, “Ah. Well, that’s…”</p><p>She chuckled, dismissing her own banter with a playful wave of her hand, “I’m just messing with you,” she peered up at him, “Have you picked your partner yet?”</p><p>“Me? Not yet… I just got off a phone call, so I haven’t been able to check the competition.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>There was a strange pause.</p><p><em>Shoot—why did I approach her again?</em> Bede wondered, turning away from Gloria to enter the lobby, <em>It’s always so awkward… we hardly know each other, after all…</em></p><p>Gloria followed Bede until they’d both entered the lobby, and then they turned to enter their separate locker rooms to prepare for the tournament. When Bede had finished combing the snarls out of his hair, he reentered the lobby, and was surprised to find it empty except for Gloria sitting silently on a bench.</p><p>She was wearing her fancy new Sport Uniform, as well as a black version of her usual boater hat. Seeing it made him wonder if she owned every color of that hat, <em>just</em> so she could coordinate it with her different outfits.</p><p>“Where did everyone go?” Bede asked, glancing around.</p><p>“Oh—the tournament’s starting in a few minutes. They’re probably all waiting on the field.”</p><p>“And you’re not with them?”</p><p>Gloria shrugged, staring quietly down at her phone.</p><p>“I… was thinking of opting out this time.”</p><p>Bede’s eyes widened with shock, <em>Opting out!? But you’re the Champion! You can’t just opt out of this, can you?</em></p><p>“But… why?”</p><p>Bede stared quietly at her, trying to understand what was going through her head. Behind her straight smile, he could see that hopeless pain once again seeping from the pores of her expression. Her eyes were distant and lonely, as if they’d lost touch with the world.</p><p>Then it occurred to him why she was like this.</p><p>“Well… I wanted to partner up with Hop again, but his name isn’t on the list this time.”</p><p>Shocked, Bede scrolled through the participants’ names and realized she was right. Though Leon and the other gym leaders were all present, Hop’s picture was nowhere to be found.</p><p>“So that’s why…” he sighed, unable to look at her, “And… no one else sent you an invite?”</p><p>Gloria shook her head solemnly, “I reckon I have a habit of intimidating people. The other gym leaders already had partners in mind for today’s matches.”</p><p>He could see her lower lip tremble as she pursed her mouth shut. Surely the memory of her argument was replaying before her mind. He could tell by the way her eyebrows creased, betraying that quaint little smile she had pinned on her cheeks.</p><p>Bede began to turn away again. Two steps from the exit onto the field, he glanced back at her slumped figure over his shoulder, and a stabbing guilt returned to his gut just like before. Then, instead of opening the glass doors, he tapped a picture with his thumb.</p><p>There was a ding from the opposite end of the room.</p><p>Though he had turned away from her, the slight gasp she’d uttered told him all he needed to know.</p><p>“B-Bede…?”</p><p>Heat crept up his neck at the sound of his name, and a sudden lump formed in his throat at the realization of what he’d just done.</p><p>“It’s just…” he began, still refusing to look back at her, “I hate it when you look like that—like the world’s over just because something didn’t go your way…” he almost punched himself for his idiotic word choice, “But—it’s not your fault that jerk ditched you, so don’t beat yourself up over it. Trust me, it doesn’t work.”</p><p>He finally glanced at her, and nearly choked.</p><p>Her eyes were glinting, probably seconds away from dripping tears down her curved cheeks. As they scanned him, her mouth trembled for a moment, until finally she let out a short, quick exhale.</p><p>“H-how much… do you know, Bede?”</p><p>He winced.</p><p>“Honestly…?” uncomfortable, he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, and told her everything.</p><p>“Well… I just—I noticed you two seemed a bit too lackluster for a pair of tournament winners. It made me mad at first—I thought maybe you were conceited to the point where winning no longer appealed to you anymore. If you two had approached me then, I probably would’ve gone off at you—but I took a walk instead, and somehow ended up on the clear other side of the stadium…</p><p>“That’s uh… when I heard yelling from the prep room, and well…”</p><p>“Then you… heard everything?” she asked quietly.</p><p>He grimaced harder than before, “I heard enough.”</p><p>“Ah…” she sighed, placing a hand over her face, “That’s why you were there… I knew that wasn’t right… but then why didn’t you…” she trailed off, but he knew what she was going to say.</p><p>“I didn’t think I had any right to console you after hearing all that,” he responded honestly, “After all—I’ve been nothing but rude to you. I figured of all people to comfort you, I was probably the <em>last</em> person you’d want to see.”</p><p>She hesitated, “You… thought about that?”</p><p>Surprised, he glanced up at her face again and realized she wasn’t upset. Rather, she seemed curious.</p><p>“What’s with the look?”</p><p>She turned away to stare quietly at her shoes, “When you got all defensive back then… I thought maybe you just didn’t want to bother yourself with my problems. It never occurred to me that you were just feeling too guilty to get involved…”</p><p>“Y-you think I’m that shallow?” Bede sighed, shaking his head in disagreement, “I know I can be harsh at times, but I suppose…” he turned off to the side sheepishly, “I was a bit… worried about you.”</p><p>Her eyes glistened at the sound of his words, and for a moment they both remained silent. He intended to keep avoiding her gaze, but moments after his comment, he heard her sniff. Instantly, he spun around to finally face her head-on, and found that she wasn’t sad at all.</p><p>There were tears dripping down her cheeks, but the hopelessness that had been lurking behind her eyes had vanished. Now they were sparkling like glistening rose petals, and accompanying them was an elegant, genuine smile of relief.</p><p>When she realized he was looking at her, she wiped the tears away from her eyes and let out a soft laugh.</p><p>“I almost can’t believe it. After all this time…” she sighed long, letting out all her anxiety with a single breath, “In your own, unusual way—you actually cared.”</p><p>His breath caught at the sound of her words.</p><p><em>When didn’t I care?</em> he argued internally, <em>I thought I always—</em> he stopped, realizing he was deceiving himself, <em>No. There </em>was<em> a time I didn’t care at all, but… it seems that’s impossible now.</em></p><p>Then Gloria stood up and tapped the “✓” on her phone, and Bede’s screen changed to display the words: “Request Accepted!” before the bracket finally appeared in its place.</p><p>With her now standing right at his side, Bede watched as she extended her hand out to him.</p><p>“I know you’re the type who doesn’t see value in befriending your rivals, but at least on my end—I’ve decided.” she grinned happily at him, tears no longer present, “When we’re out on the field, we’re rivals. But today, I consider you my friend.”</p><p>His jaw nearly dropped in surprise.</p><p>Though Bede never admitted it to anyone—let alone himself, he had only ever had one person whom he’d called a friend, and that person had been missing for years. Since then, he’d made sure never to make that same mistake, but now—standing in front of Gloria, a girl who was not only stunning, but also genuinely kind, he decided to break his own promise.</p><p>A smirk entered his face and he snatched her hand.</p><p>“Well then. I look forward to being your partner today, Champion.”</p><p>She nodded, “As am I, gym leader Bede!”</p><p>But halfway through their handshake, Leon ran into the prep room with a fierce look of panic on his face.</p><p>“YOU TWO!” he shouted, “Get your butts out here—the matches were supposed to start ten minutes ago! HURRY UP!”</p><p>“R-right!” Gloria shouted, snatching her Poké Balls, “Sorry—let’s go!”</p><p>Bede nodded, and the two ran behind Leon to join the rest of the gym leaders out on the field.</p><hr/><p>“Alright Bede—you ready!?” Gloria roared excitedly in the lobby.</p><p>“Depends,” he responded simply, raising an eyebrow as he studied the bracket, “I know I offered to be your partner, but you better have a strategy if you want to win this. The match-ups seem even more difficult than last time…”</p><p>“They do that to me because I’m the champion…” she sighed.</p><p>“Oh yes—such a pain to be on top, hm?”</p><p>She jabbed him lightly in the ribs, “Shut-it, you.”</p><p>“Anyway, we’ve got Kabu and Milo together for the first round. This’ll be tricky since we can’t really use water types. For that reason, I recommend you go with a fire type, while I try to deal with Kabu.”</p><p>Gloria mulled about his statement for a moment, then nodded.</p><p>“Alright then, I can do that. Just keep Kabu preoccupied while I take down Milo, and we should have this in the bag!”</p><p>They both nodded in agreement, and then when it was their que to enter, Bede and Gloria stepped into the hall and entered the field.</p><p>Overhead, the announcer narrated their entrance: “…On the left field we have the fire and grass experts, Kabu and Milo! On the right, our region’s champion Gloria, and her elegant fairy-type partner, Bede! A strong match-up today—but how will our champion deal with Kabu and Milo’s combined might?”</p><p>Side by side in the center of the field, Bede stared down the two opposing gym leaders.</p><p>“You two sure took your time getting ready earlier,” Milo commented, “I hope you weren’t plotting how to beat us!”</p><p>Bede smirked, “We wouldn’t need to reserve more than a couple of minutes strategizing against you two. We’ve got a plan, right?”</p><p>Gloria nodded firmly, “Yup! Watch out!”</p><p>Kabu gave them both a fierce nod, “I’ll look forward to what you two can do.”</p><p>And then the four of them turned away to opposite ends of the court. In the center, a ref held up three fingers, and the announcer counted down accordingly as he began to lower them.</p><p>“3… 2… 1… START!”</p><p>The whistle blew, and the ref made a mad-dash for the sidelines so the four trainers could release their Pokémon.</p><p>Kabu and Milo let out their Torkoal and Shiftry accordingly, and Bede brought out his Rapidash—concerned Mawile would have trouble with Kabu.</p><p>“Alright Champion, just as we planned! Let out your Nineta—”</p><p>“Bobble, let’s do this!”</p><p>He shot his gaze towards her in confusion, and was stunned to find she’d brought out her Inteleon instead. The water-type trilled fiercely as it landed gracefully on the field, but Bede was nearly screaming with unpleasant surprise.</p><p>“What are you doing!? I explicitly said NOT to use water types because of Milo! Who’s going to cover him <em>now!?</em>”</p><p>To his bewilderment, Gloria was grinning at him, “Don’t be so sure of yourself, Bede. I’m still covering Milo, just you watch.”</p><p>He winced in frustration, but carried on as promised.</p><p>“Alright Torkoal, let’s finish this quick! Use Heat Crash on Rapidash!” Kabu demanded.</p><p>Right with him, Milo chimed in: “And Shiftry, get in there and take down Inteleon with Leaf Blade!”</p><p><em>Shoot—Gloria, you better have a plan!</em> Bede cursed, “Rapidash, don’t let that thing scare you! It’s weak to ground types, so smash it in with Drill Run!”</p><p>Torkoal and Rapidash clashed into each other with equal strength, neither one of them budging an inch. Even as it drilled its horn into Torkoal’s shell, Torkoal fought back with towers of raging flames around its heated body.</p><p>In the meantime, Gloria was silently watching as Shiftry approached Inteleon. The Pokémon was blindingly quick—likely faster than her own, and now it was less than a yard away.</p><p>Bede turned worriedly to face her, “Do something already!”</p><p>“Now Shiftry!” Milo interrupted, his enthusiasm ringing into Shiftry’s ears.</p><p>The Pokémon brought down its leafy arm with a heavy swiftness that could’ve chopped a brick wall in half—yet not a sound was made from Inteleon.</p><p>Milo blinked in confusion, realizing the Pokémon had somehow dodged, “Wh-what!? How did you sneak out—”</p><p>“Bobble!” Gloria’s voice suddenly appeared, a dangerous charm to it as she executed her demand, “Who cares if it’s a grass type! Now that you’re close, use Icicle Spear!”</p><p>Suddenly, a rain of icicles appeared in the sky overhead.</p><p>Bede gawked as they crashed one by one into the Shiftry’s body—super-effective against its type.</p><p>“Augh! When did you learn an ice-type move!?” Milo yelled, flustered as his Shiftry was bashed with icicle after icicle, “That’s so unfair!”</p><p>After only three icicles, Shiftry was tossed aside like a rag doll. The Pokémon was sent flying back to its starting place, battered from the force of the attack. Inteleon had not only used a super-effective move, it had managed to land a critical hit on the final blow. Milo’s first Pokémon was already unable to battle.</p><p>“Holy crap…” Bede blinked, stunned she made such short work of Milo.</p><p>“I told you not to doubt me!” she grinned again, pumping her fists with vigor, “Nice hit there, Bobble!”</p><p>Inteleon smirked, and gave her a quick thumb’s up before Milo called out his next Pokémon.</p><p>“Dang—I’ll have to be more careful now that I know you’ve got an ice-type move…” Milo winced, “I’ll go with Cherrim next—” he glanced at Kabu, “It’s up to you for now, Kabu. I’m not sure how well I can handle a Pokémon with its bases so well covered…”</p><p>Kabu groaned, “I thought I was supposed to be counting on <em>you</em> for cover, Milo…”</p><p>Undaunted, Bede resumed his barrage of Drill Runs, “Not so fast, Kabu. I’m not going to be taken down by you <em>or</em> Milo this time!” he extended his arm passionately towards Rapidash, and it nodded in understanding, “Give it all you’ve got! Pierce that fiery turtle from underneath if you have to—do whatever it takes!”</p><p>The Rapidash reared onto its hind legs for a moment, whinnying long and proud before it thrusted its horn underneath Torkoal’s belly, and tossed it over onto its back. The Torkoal cried out, spinning helplessly on the ground, but there was nothing it could do to right itself. The Rapidash jabbed in a second Drill Run, and sent it barreling back to Kabu’s feet.</p><p>“No—not you too!” Kabu cried out, rushing to his Pokémon’s side.</p><p>Exhausted, the Torkoal rested its head uselessly on the grass, pleading to rest.</p><p>“Alright… that’s enough then. I’ll have to pull out my next Pokémon.”</p><p>From that point on, their fighting was fearsome. Powerful blows were struck from left and right—one taking out Bede’s Rapidash. The loss caused Bede to grimace, realizing he had no choice but to rely on his steel type Mawile—who unfortunately wouldn’t last more than a turn, knowing the strength of Kabu’s Arcanine.</p><p>However, despite Milo managing to get a direct hit on Inteleon with Solar Beam, Gloria’s water-type was still standing.</p><p>Milo was left with no choice but to Gigantamax his Flapple.</p><p>“I didn’t want to do this, but it’s the only choice I have left. Flapple, Gigantamax and take down that Inteleon once and for all!”</p><p>But Gloria was right with him.</p><p>“You think I’m just going to sit and watch? Bobble let’s finish this! Gigantamax, and use Max Hailstorm!”</p><p>After tossing Inteleon’s Poké Ball far behind her, the Pokémon grew to an enormous size; perching far overhead those in the stadium from a sniper’s post.</p><p>“WOAH—WHAT’S THIS!?” the announcer screamed, “Until just recently, Inteleon has not been able to Gigantamax, but it appears Gloria has somehow managed to unlock its full potential! Behold—the Gigantamax form of Inteleon, everyone!”</p><p>“Oh…” Milo sighed, “It’s over for me, isn’t it?”</p><p>Upon Gloria’s command, dark clouds swirled over everyone’s heads, bringing a violent rain of ice down onto the Gigantamaxed Flapple. The Pokémon screeched as it was enveloped in the sharp shards of frozen water, and within only a second, it was down for the count.</p><p>With no Gigantamaxed opponents left to worry about, Gloria singlehandedly brought down Kabu’s remaining two fire-types with G-Max Hydrosnipe, and the match was over.</p><p><em>She didn’t lose a single Pokémon,</em> Bede realized, watching as Gloria hugged her Inteleon after it shrank back down to normal, <em>She’s really on a whole ‘nother level, isn’t she?</em></p><p>When the chaos died down, Gloria and Bede shook hands with Milo and Kabu.</p><p>“That was amazing teamwork, you two!” Gloria complimented, “It was smart to pair up fire and grass. That would’ve really given me trouble if I hadn’t have had an ice type move on hand.”</p><p>“Oh, don’t flatter us—you wiped the floor with us, Champion. Just admit it! After all, you didn’t lose a single Pokémon,” Kabu chuckled, shaking his head.</p><p>“And I was really hoping we’d win this time…” Milo sighed, “I’m sorry I let you down Kabu—this was really unexpected.”</p><p>“I’ll say…” Bede sighed, raising an eyebrow at Gloria, “Don’t catch me off guard like that next time. For a moment, I thought you were throwing the match.”</p><p>She grinned mischievously at him, “Call it the price of being my partner, I suppose!”</p><p><em>Then remind me not to pick you next time,</em> he thought silently, though there was a clear grin on his face.</p><p>The next match was just as thrilling. It was the two of them versus Gordie and Bea. Though they were strong opponents, Bede was easily able to take down Bea with his fairy-type Pokémon, while Gloria handled Gordie with her Eldegoss. Bede reckoned she was going easier on them than she was on Milo and Kabu, because she ended up losing Eldegoss to Coalossal in the end—but she still had Inteleon of course, so the match was as good as won.</p><p>Then, it was the final round: Gloria and Bede, versus Raihan and Leon.</p><p>As they approached each other on the field, Bede shouted out to them.</p><p>“Hey—didn’t you two pair up last time? What’s the big deal?”</p><p>Raihan shrugged, “There’s no rules against it, are there? And besides—after watching Gloria dominate your first match, I’m glad I picked Leon in the end. There’s no way I could beat you two with anyone else.”</p><p>Gloria laughed, “You better watch it then, Raihan! Don’t let Leon do all the hard work this time!”</p><p>Raihan was about to bite back, but Leon interrupted him, “Let’s just get this show started! We can trash talk each other out on the field instead—sound good?”</p><p>Gloria grinned and nodded, “Very well! Good luck to you two!”</p><p>For the last time that tournament, the ref returned with his three fingers pointing up, and counted back down.</p><p>“3… 2… 1… START!” the crowd screamed, and the ref disappeared just as the four of them unleashed their Pokémon.</p><p>“Just for you Bede, I’m leading with Ninetales this time.”</p><p>“Smart choice. Let me handle Raihan for you, alright?”</p><p>Gloria nodded, and then the match finally began.</p><p>It was the most intense match of the tournament.</p><p>Leon, being the expert he was, managed to swiftly dodge Fire Blast after Fire Blast from Ninetales, aided by the strength of his King’s Shield. Bede, though unaffected by the ongoing sandstorm from Raihan’s Flygon, was having an immense amount of trouble landing hits because it kept flying out of reach.</p><p>“Mawile—one more time! Use Play Rough and try to take that blasted thing down!”</p><p>“MAAW!” it screeched ferociously, hopping angrily up and down before charging full force towards Flygon again.</p><p>“Oi, Leon! You got that King’s Shield up!?” Raihan yelled over the sandstorm.</p><p>“Yup! Go ahead and do it!”</p><p>Gloria suddenly stiffened, realizing what was about to happen, “Ember—brace yourself!”</p><p>Bede, confused and terrified that he was missing something, shouted over to her: “What!? Champion—what’s going on!?”</p><p>She turned to him, a look of panic on her face, “We’re screwed!”</p><p>
  <em>Already!?</em>
</p><p>“Flygon, use Earthquake!”</p><p>
  <em>Ah. That.</em>
</p><p>“NO—” Bede shouted, swearing furiously as his Mawile was jolted and slammed aside like a toy until it was knocked uselessly back to Bede’s feet.</p><p>Ninetales, though not unconscious, was badly injured by the attack, and hardly able to keep standing.</p><p>“Curses—” Gloria stomped furiously, “You did that <em>fully aware</em> what it would do to us…”</p><p>Raihan and Leon gave each other an air hi-five as Raihan shouted, “Yup! What’re you going to do now, champ!?”</p><p>She glared steely at them both, and pointed angrily towards Leon’s Aegislash.</p><p>“You’ve done it now—Ninetales, let’s stop messing around! Use Dark Pulse and <em>end</em> that thing already!”</p><p>The foxlike creature rushed forwards instantly, startling Aegislash as it erupted forth a powerful Dark Pulse. The attack sent it reeling away back to Leon just as Mawile had been tossed to Bede, and it fell unconscious instantly.</p><p>“Augh—shoot! I should’ve known you’d do that eventually!”</p><p>“Of course,” Gloria replied simply, though the cheeky grin from previous matches had faded, and was replaced with a daring, fearsome glare, “Protection moves like King’s Shield become less effective if used in succession. I was counting on you using it to finally strike you down.”</p><p>Bede swallowed hard upon seeing her dangerous side, and tossed out his Rapidash to continue the fight.</p><p>“Let’s do what Mawile couldn’t do this time, alright bud?” Rapidash nodded fiercely to Bede as he yelled: “Use Dazzling Gleam!”</p><p>The attack slammed into Raihan’s Flygon and Leon’s recently unleashed Dragapult with immense force. Luckily for him, the move managed to hurt both of them enough to put them in danger, but it still wasn’t enough to knock either opponent down.</p><p>“I’m not going down just yet!” Raihan grinned, “Flygon, give us one last Earthquake before you go!”</p><p><em>No!</em> Bede whipped his head around and watched as Gloria’s Ninetales collapsed from the blunt attack, <em>If the match continues like this, we could actually lose!</em></p><p>Gloria sighed, returning her Ninetales with a disappointed grimace on her face, “You did well buddy. Rest for now.” then her furious glare was right back on her face, “No more chances. Inteleon, let’s take that monster down!”</p><p>With the comfort of having her water-type on the field, Bede assumed he could finally relax.</p><p>“Alright—Rapidash, let’s just end this easy, okay? Use Dazzling Gleam one more time!”</p><p>“Oh no you DON’T!” Leon suddenly roared, startling Bede with the booming volume of his voice despite the sandstorm, “Dragapult, take that thing down! Use Shadow Ball!”</p><p>
  <em>Oh crap—I forgot!</em>
</p><p>“Bede—no!” Gloria yelled in horror as the super-effective move thrashed Rapidash down to the ground without the slightest hint of remorse.</p><p>“Forgetting something as well, Champion?” Raihan chided suddenly, and she screamed when Flygon suddenly swooped in low to connect a Dragon Claw with Inteleon’s side.</p><p>Luckily, Inteleon was able to dodge just in time, but the cost made it stumble.</p><p>“Why you—” Gloria hissed, “Alright! Now I’m mad! Inteleon, take that idiot down with Snipe Shot!”</p><p>Just as demanded, a bullet of water shot forth from Inteleon’s finger, powerful enough to finally send the Flygon crippling to its knees. As it hit the ground, Bede retrieved his Rapidash while Raihan retrieved his Flygon, and the match continued.</p><p>“Ladies and gentleman—this is an unpredictable surprise!” the announcer gawked, “Both Leon and Raihan seem to be handling the Champion quite well, despite her advantages! How on earth will she and Bede pull through!?”</p><p>“Shut-up,” Gloria whispered darkly to the announcer, glaring as Raihan unleashed his Goodra onto the field, “I can still win this.”</p><p>“Gloria!”</p><p>Gloria turned around, stunned Bede had at last called her by her real name instead of “Champion”. Bede was staring intently at her, a look of worry and frustration in his eyes.</p><p>“I’m not going to Gigantamax,” he said clearly, “I’ve decided to leave that to you. And personally…” he looked away, frustrated at his own weakness, “The match is likely in your hands.”</p><p>She nodded slowly, acknowledging his sacrifice.</p><p>“Thank you, Bede. I promise I won’t disappoint—”</p><p>“THUNDERBOLT!” Leon suddenly roared.</p><p>Gloria spun around, her face draining with horror as a bolt of lightning came crashing down onto her Inteleon.</p><p>“No—Bobble!” she screamed.</p><p>“You need to pay attention, Champion!” Leon chided, “Your carelessness is starting to cost you!”</p><p>Angry at the cheap shot, Bede thrust his arm forward, “Alright Hatterene, let’s give them a piece of their own medicine! Ram them down with Dazzling Gleam just as before!”</p><p>The attack, sure enough, tore through Dragapult and Goodra with even more power than Rapidash. The force was enough to finally take out Dragapult, but Goodra was still ready to fight.</p><p>“Bobble, I know that hurt—but please! Last just a bit longer, and use Icicle Spear on Goodra!”</p><p>Five icicles appeared just as before, hovering dangerously above Goodra’s head. However, out of the five icicles, only one of them hit. It was a horrible stroke of bad luck.</p><p>“Now Goodra, Thunder!” Raihan roared, and similar to Dragapult’s earlier attack, a powerful crash of lightning seared down from the sky.</p><p>“No—Bobble dodge it!”</p><p>The Pokémon jolted forward in desperation, but a sudden jolt of electricity tightened the muscles in its body moments before the attack, causing it to remain in place.</p><p>
  <em>No—it’s paralyzed!</em>
</p><p>Two direct electric-type moves was too much for Inteleon to handle. The Pokémon fell to the ground limply, falling just short of defeating the Goodra.</p><p>Gloria’s eyes shrank in terror. She glanced at Leon’s Charizard, who was now roaring in excitement to begin fighting, and instantly realized her mistake.</p><p>She had nothing to defeat it now.</p><p>“Don’t worry,” Bede suddenly spoke up, causing Gloria to finally look at him again, “We can still do this. If you take your next chance to Gigantamax, I can sacrifice my Hatterene to deal damage. Just don’t blow this, alright?”</p><p>Though she was still scared, Gloria nodded to him and held her final Poké Ball in front of her.</p><p>“It’s come to this, buddy. I know we usually fight for show, but this is for real this time. Let’s do this.”</p><p>After giving the ball a soft kiss, she tossed the Poké Ball high up into the air and released it onto the field.</p><p>“Guii, let’s show these guys what a <em>true</em> champion’s made of!” she yelled, and the Pokémon let out a single, cascading cry—high pitched and melodic like an eerie song.</p><p>
  <em>Her strongest Pokémon, Alcremie.</em>
</p><p>“Hatterene, we’re not done here either!” Bede injected, still raring to fight, “Take that Goodra down with another Dazzling Gleam!”</p><p>The attack was a success.</p><p>Goodra finally collapsed, having taken enough of a beating—however Charizard barely flinched. The attack was weak against its scaley skin.</p><p>“These are the days when I’m glad you’re not a dragon-type!” Leon laughed, giving his Charizard a thumb’s up, “Now let’s show them who’s boss, buddy! Use Fire Blast!”</p><p>Charizard’s flames burst across the stadium like a firework—engulfing all in its path. Hatterene, though not weak to fire, took a load of damage from the intense flames. It had always been a quick Pokémon, but Charizard was fast enough to unleash the fire before it could even blink.</p><p>“Two fairies versus our steel and fire types, huh? Leon, there’s no way we can lose now!” Raihan grinned, “Duraludon! Let’s end this show once and for all!”</p><p>Duraludon roared as it was unleashed from its Poké Ball. Compared to Alcremie, it was a monstrous thing—large enough practically to squish it under its foot.</p><p>“Now!” Raihan grinned, pointing fiercely at Bede’s Hatterene, “Get rid of that thing with Iron Head!”</p><p>The Duraludon leapt forward with surprising agility as it bashed its body into the poor Pokémon. Hatterene screamed one last time before collapsing to the ground—strength entirely spent up.</p><p>Alcremie was the only one left conscious, and the other two were barely damaged at all.</p><p>“I’m sorry Gloria,” Bede winced, “We got so unlucky this game—do your best, but if you don’t win, I’ll understa—”</p><p>“NO!” Gloria screamed, startling Bede.</p><p>He turned to face her, surprise entering his eyes as he saw the mischievous grin on her face once again return.</p><p>“Never give up! Number one rule!” then she smiled at him, “And do you know what number two is?”</p><p>“What?” he asked, barely breathing as her eyes bore into him.</p><p>“Never underestimate me.”</p><p>There was an eerie pause, before Raihan interrupted it with a hearty laugh, “Hah! As much as I admire you Champion, you’re in no position to say that! I’m afraid this is the end for you today!”</p><p>“Guii,” Gloria ordered, suddenly very focused.</p><p>The Pokémon glanced over its shoulder briefly, its eyes flickering with determination as they silently connected with each other.</p><p>“Let’s show them what a <em>real</em> Dazzling Gleam looks like.”</p><p><em>A what? Did she just make fun of me?</em> Bede realized, taking a moment to lightly glare at her before turning his attention back to the field.</p><p>“CREEEEM!” the tiny Pokémon unleashed an unholy roar of a screech, causing Bede and the others to plug their ears.</p><p>What followed was insane.</p><p>The entire gym lit up with an overpoweringly bright light. Sparkling flashes suddenly began to ignite across the field, sending Charizard and Duraludon reeling as they were blinded with the glow. Though it was fantastic—like something out of a dream, Bede had to close his eyes to avoid from being completely blinded.</p><p>When the powerful flash of light slowly faded, Charizard and Duraludon were prone on their backs, blinking furiously as echoes of the light continued to speckle their vision even minutes after the attack.</p><p>“Why you—” Raihan shouted, clenching his jaw, “That sure was cheap of you!”</p><p>Somehow unfazed by the attack, Leon grinned snidely at the Champion, “That was brilliant—literally! But do you really think you can defeat me with that <em>alone!?</em> Charizard! Let’s Gigantamax!”</p><p>Leon retreated Charizard into the Poké Ball, and with a toss, the Charizard reappeared on the court a hundred times larger than before.</p><p>“Fine then. Be that way! Guii, let’s put them in a sugar coma and GIGANTAMAX!”</p><p>Within an instant, she too had enlarged her Alcremie just as Leon had. Atop five, massive layers of cakes, Alcremie stood proudly as it readied its final attacks.</p><p>“Charizard! G-Max Wildfire!” Leon yelled.</p><p>“Duraludon, Iron Head!”</p><p>“Guii—Max Strike on Charizard!”</p><p>It was like a tornado of energy had erupted forth from the Pokémon. Bede watched as towers of flame engulfed the field in bright light, and quickly fled backwards when the ground split open to unleash a beam of raw power. Both Pokémon stumbled from the other’s attack, but somehow it seemed Alcremie was winning.</p><p><em>Go!</em> Bede cheered in his head, <em>Take them down!</em></p><p>“GO GET ‘EM!!!” he screamed, unable to help himself anymore.</p><p>Gloria, likely unable to hear him over the sound of the noise, directed one final Max Strike against Charizard, and against all odds—she brought it to its knees.</p><p>“No!” Leon shouted, stunned at her resilience, “How did you—”</p><p>Raihan, the only one remaining, was now panicking from below, “H-how am I supposed to deal with this giant cake if you used up all the G-Max energy!?”</p><p>“Well, I wasn’t expecting to be defeated!” Leon argued, “You better do something—that thing hardly has a scratch!”</p><p>“It’s over!” Gloria yelled, her eyes glittering, “Let’s end this right now, Guii! G-MAX FINALE!”</p><p>For a moment, the world descended into slow motion.</p><p>Overhead, massive shooting stars began to engulf the stadium in light. Duraludon screamed in agony as the attack ripped through it with ease, leaving Bede to watch in silence as the match finally played into Gloria’s hands.</p><p>Then, amongst the chaos, stars falling all around with the field tinted in a pink light, they made eye contact.</p><p>He could say nothing—he could do nothing. Gloria’s eyes met his, still wide from the heat of battle, but suddenly soft as they met his face. He only stared back, his eyes equally entranced and bewildered by the sight of her beautiful gaze.</p><p>Then a sudden feeling tore through his lungs, stealing away his breath and his focus, and suddenly he jolted his head away—his face, for some reason, now burning with a hot embarrassment.</p><p>
  <em>What on earth was that?</em>
</p><p>There was a thud, and then it was all over. Duraludon was defeated—the last of Raihan’s team, leaving only Gloria’s Alcremie still standing.</p><p>The crowd was ecstatic.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Consider a Friend -ENDING-</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Their short victory celebration, plus a brief moment from Hop's perspective.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jirachi's Twin Timeline: (Present → Past)</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jirachi's Twin Main Story</strong></li>
<li>Thanksgiving SP | You Are Precious</li>
<li>Charm and Intellect</li>
<li>
<strong>Consider a Friend</strong> <em>(you are here)</em>
</li>
</ul><p>*Bold is a crucial chapter, italics is current location</p>
<hr/><p>An hour later, and the excitement from the Star Tournament was finally coming to a close. Bede and Gloria were standing side-by-side as Leon congratulated them out on the field. As they waved to the audience, Leon handed them a set of matching Star Tournament ribbons, claiming it was the best prize he could give (since he’d already handed out the Sport Uniforms).</p><p>Surrounded with cheers and confetti, Gloria turned to finally grin at Bede.</p><p>“Looks like I won again, Bede.”</p><p>He glanced at her, unable to wipe his grin off his face, “You know… I suppose I’d normally throw a fit if I had to share my win with you, but for now, a win is a win.”</p><p>“Is it now?” she laughed, still waving to the crowd.</p><p>“Yeah,” he chuckled, surprised that he was so joyful about the whole thing, “I’m just glad I got to fight alongside you. That was really something cool, Gloria.”</p><p>“I’m glad you’re happy then,” she replied gratefully.</p><p><em>Happy?</em> Bede blinked, his hand pausing momentarily as he waved, <em>Am I really happy?</em></p><p>He looked around at the stadium, at the ribbon pinned to his shirt, and at the joyful look of euphoria on Gloria’s face as the Maximizers broke once again into song.</p><p><em>I suppose I am,</em> he realized, rolling back his head to laugh for a moment as the stadium’s attention finally moved away from him.</p><p>“Say—why don’t we go celebrate?” Gloria offered, her eyes glittering with excitement, “After all, we won!”</p><p>“We?” he hesitated. Though he was aware Gloria now considered him as her friend, he wasn’t quite sure if he could say the same for himself yet, “I don’t know… what would we do?”</p><p>Gloria shrugged, starting to walk towards the sidelines, “Well, we could get something fancy to eat,” she suggested, “I can invite Marnie too, if you think it’ll be awkward with just the two of us.”</p><p>He considered that for a moment.</p><p>“I suppose,” he began carefully, finally managing to wipe off his smirk, “I’m not busy tonight.”</p><p>“Yes!” she shouted, a little too enthusiastically, “Then let’s go! I know just the place!”</p><p>Suddenly Gloria grabbed Bede’s wrist and pulled him along with her to the sidelines.</p><p>“H-hey—not so fast! There’s no hurry, is there!?”</p><p>She turned to grin at him, her smile somehow burning into his eyes like fire.</p><p>“Maybe not, but—I have so much energy now I just want to run!”</p><p>“Then don’t take me with you—augh!” he yelled.</p><p>But it was pointless. After all, he was laughing just as much as he was complaining for her to stop.</p><p>Somehow, as they were running, Bede realized he’d changed. It was a known fact he and the champion were rivals. They didn’t get along—let alone fight together or hang out. Yet at some point, whether it was during their first league against each other, or after sharing their win together at the Star Tournament, something changed.</p><p>She so easily smiled at him, greeted him, shook his hand, and waved at him when he could barely call her by her first name. Though it was annoying at first, he’d at some point begun to expect that sweetness from her. If she ever forgot to acknowledge him, he felt annoyed—even a little betrayed at times. He admired her patience and her willpower to keep smiling, even when he brushed her off. She was strong that way—like a pillar of sunshine.</p><p>So when he heard her arguing with Hop, it finally clicked in his mind that he was wrong about her.</p><p>She wasn’t all smiles and warm greetings, but a complicated person who could cry and yell and scrape her knees, just like anyone else; as could he. That was the difference he saw—the new spark that finally allowed him to smile around her, and view her as more than just a faceless opponent. Maybe if he spent enough time around her, she could change how he saw the rest of the people in the world, too. He wanted her to cure him.</p><p>But Bede had no idea that she’d do far more than just <em>that.</em></p>
<hr/>
<h4>Consider a Friend -Alternate Ending-</h4><p>The television was playing in the background as he studied. Piles of textbooks and paperwork were spread all around him, each one containing information about Pokémon research.</p><p>However, he was no longer looking at any of it.</p><p>Hop was seated in front of the television, his forehead resting on the ledge which the TV was set on. One hand was covering his face, the other resting on the ledge by his head with the remote in hand.</p><p>There was confetti.</p><p>Cheering.</p><p>And music.</p><p>Celebration Hop listened to, but couldn’t witness in person because it hurt too much. He couldn’t face her after what he’d said—after what he’d finally confirmed to feel towards her.</p><p>
  <em>I hate you.</em>
</p><p>He forced his gaze up to the TV, and saw her pin the first-place ribbon on her shirt.</p><p>
  <em>I hate you.</em>
</p><p>She smiled too brightly—a smile always reserved for himself. Her friend. Her best friend.</p><p>
  <em>I hate you.</em>
</p><p>But he wasn’t there this time.</p><p>
  <em>I hate you.</em>
</p><p>It was Bede instead.</p><p>Of all people.</p><p>Bede.</p><p>
  <em>I hate you!</em>
</p><p>He slammed his fist on the table, rattling the TV in its spot.</p><p>The remote slipped from his hand, coincidentally tapping the power button as it landed.</p><p>The last image he saw was of her grabbing Bede’s wrist and guiding him away to go celebrate their win.</p><p>The match they’d won <em>together.</em></p><p>He hated them both.</p><p>“Stop,” he finally croaked, falling backwards to lie helplessly on the floor, “Stop leaving me behind!”</p><p>But his sobs were met with only silence, as if the world itself had indeed forgotten him.</p>
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